A small band of crooks was busted red-handed yesterday trying to knock off a Staten Island bank in an elaborate scheme gone awry that included tunneling through the wall of a store next door, The Post has learned.

Investigators received an anonymous tip that the thieves planned to break into the Richmond County Savings Bank on Richmond Avenue, near the Staten Island Mall and a satellite office of the 122nd Precinct.

When cops arrived at 2:30 a.m., they spotted the four-man team struggling to break into the vault, which holds 1,000 safety- deposit boxes filled with valuables.

Sources said the thieves had made their way into a Pearl Vision eyeglass store next door and used high-speed drills and jackhammers to bore through the wall into the bank.

The bandits – who are believed to be linked to at least three similar heists around the city – were eyeing the more than 1,000 safety-deposit boxes inside.

The cops called in reinforcements and surrounded the bank, watching the thieves rummaging around and struggling to break into the vault.

Just before 5 a.m., the cops made their move and quickly cuffed the alleged crooks.

Sources identified the suspects as Lee D’Avanzo and Bekim Fisku – ex-cons on probation for similar crimes – and Mislim Ruci and Joseph Cotarello.

D’Avanzo, who was released from federal prison in 2006, was indicted in 2001 for a string of bank robberies and drug deals, according to a published report.

Investigators believe the crew pulled a similar holiday bank job this past Easter.

In that case, they allegedly knocked off a Queens bank for at least $100,000 and an undetermined amount of safety-deposit boxes this past Easter.

The thieves allegedly copied a key for a store next door to the Sovereign bank in Howard Beach.

They then drilled directly through the reinforced concrete wall into the vault.